Bright, Hinton lead Tigers to 5-3 win over Fort Scott

Thursday, May 4, 2017
Nevada High School senior Myles McNeley collects a base hit Tuesday evening at Dave Regan Stadium.
Submitted photo

FORT SCOTT, Kan. –– The Nevada Tigers dealt Fort Scott High School a 5-3 defeat Tuesday evening at Dave Regan Stadium. The non-conference road victory improves Nevada to 7-5 overall while also snapping Fort Scott’s five-game win streak.

On the mound for Nevada was Payton Bright, who allowed one earned run on five hits, while striking out five over four innings of work en route to the victory. Bright displayed excellent command against a potent Fort Scott lineup, as the senior didn’t issue a single walk.

“Payton did a great job of being efficient with his pitches,” said Nevada High School head coach Danny Penn.

Nevada catcher Braeden Hinton tags out a runner at home plate, on a throw by right fielder Logan Armstrong in the second inning of Tuesday's contest with Fort Scott High School.
Submitted photo

Penn said he was pleased that his squad was able to quickly knock the rust off, having not played in over a week due to heavy rainfall.

“After a long layoff, we didn’t want to overload any of our guys,” Penn noted. “Payton was able to get through four innings at 54 pitches. He did a great job of attacking the strike zone and letting his defense work behind him.”

Nevada used four walks to help it score twice in the top of the first inning. Peyton Denney and Myles McNeley drew consecutive bases-loaded walks to force in the runs.

Nevada added two more in the top of the second. Braeden Hinton drove in Logan Armstrong with a single and Branden Harder also scored with the aid of an error.

Three Nevada errors helped Fort Scott score all of its runs in the bottom of the second. Jeron Poyner reached base on a leadoff error at second base. Cooper Bradbury followed with a single to short left. Marcus Jamison reached base on another error that allowed pinch-runner Gunnar Brown and Bradbury to score. Jamison then scored on Ty Gorman’s groundout.

Nevada added an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Hinton doubled in Armstrong.

Fort Scott managed to get two runners on with one out in the bottom of the sixth, however, Nevada relief pitcher Tyler Ketterman got out of the jam with a pair of fly-ball outs.

In the seventh, Fort Scott’s Keiran Houlihan singled with one out, Grant Goldston was hit by a pitch and Matt Campbell drew a walk to load the bases. At that point Penn decided to move Harder to the mound. That move paid off as the junior right-handed pitcher got a strikeout and a fly-ball out to end the game while collecting his second save of the season.

Fort Scott pitcher Jarrett Lyon gutted it out despite not having his best stuff. After his shaky first two innings, he pitched three innings of one-hit ball before he was taken out after five when his pitch count reached 96. He allowed three earned runs on four hits, to go along with six walks and seven strikeouts.

For Nevada, Hinton finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs, while McNeley also collected a pair of hits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Michaud and Houlihan had two hits apiece for Fort Scott.

“Offensively, we were patient for the most part, as we were able to draw nine walks,” said Penn. “There were a couple of situations where I would have liked us to have been even more patient –– but I imagine having not played for a week may have played a factor there.”

Penn said he was pleased with his squad’s defensive effort, highlighted by (right fielder)Armstrong’s cannon throw in the second inning, gunning down a runner at home to preserve Nevada’s 4-3 advantage. On the play at the plate, Hinton applied the tag.

“That was the defensive play of the game,” said Penn. “It was a huge momentum boost for us.”

Meanwhile, Nevada’s junior varsity team fell to Fort Scott 7-2 Tuesday night.

Up next

A West Central Conference road contest, originally scheduled for Thursday evening against Clinton, has been postponed until Saturday, as the first pitch is set for 11 a.m. in Clinton.

Nevada returns to the diamond today, when they travel to Sedalia for a WCC matchup with Smith-Cotton High School.

Smith-Cotton has powered through the WCC conference, winning all 10 of its contests by a combined 101 runs. In their only meeting of the year, April 14 in Nevada, Smith-Cotton defeated the Tigers 16-2. Nevada is 2-3 in WCC-play.

Fort Scott Tribune sports editor Scott Nuzum contributed to this report

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